Framework for coordinated multipoint transmission based on a multicell MAC/RRC design

ABSTRACT

Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, two or more cells are configured to perform coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission for one or more user equipment devices with a common media access control (MAC) or a common radio resource control (RRC). Measurement information is received from the one or more user equipment devices. One or more of the cells may be deactivated, or one or more additional cells may be activated for coordinated multipoint transmission based at least in part on the measurement information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/389,080 (P36288Z) filed Oct. 1, 2010. SaidApplication No. 61/389,080 is hereby incorporated herein in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) is a technique that may be utilized toincrease the performance of Fourth Generation (4G) wirelesscommunication systems. Coordinated multipoint transmission may beutilized to increase throughput and service quality in wirelessnetworks, particularly at or near the edge of a given cell in a cellularnetwork. In contrast to carrier aggregation (CA) techniques whichcombine transmissions from two different carriers operating on twodifferent frequencies to increase data rates, coordinated multipointtransmission involves using two carriers operating on the samefrequency. Although CoMP has been proposed for 4G wirelesscommunications, a consistent framework to define, activate, and schedulemultiple cells to support CoMP transmission has yet to be defined.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctlyclaimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, suchsubject matter may be understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an enhanced Node B (eNB) serving multiple sectorsof multiple cells and capable of implementing coordinated multipoint(CoMP) transmission in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a framework to implement intra-eNB CoMPunder the same radio resource control (RRC) with joint media accesscontrol (MAC) in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control plane for implementingcoordinated multipoint transmission in accordance with one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a data plane for implementing coordinatedmultipoint transmission in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method to configure coordinated multipointcells in accordance with one or more embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method to configure secondary cells forcoordinated in accordance with one or more embodiments; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an information handling system capable ofutilizing coordinated multipoint transmission in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity ofillustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarilybeen drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elementsmay be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, ifconsidered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among thefigures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter.However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimedsubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuitshave not been described in detail.

In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/orconnected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particularembodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elementsare in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other.Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/orelectrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or moreelements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may stillcooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled” maymean that two or more elements do not contact each other but areindirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements.Finally, the terms “on,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used in thefollowing description and claims. “On,” “overlying,” and “over” may beused to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physicalcontact with each other. However, “over” may also mean that two or moreelements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, “over”may mean that one element is above another element but not contact eachother and may have another element or elements in between the twoelements. Furthermore, the term “and/or” may mean “and”, it may mean“or”, it may mean “exclusive-or”, it may mean “one”, it may mean “some,but not all”, it may mean “neither”, and/or it may mean “both”, althoughthe scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Inthe following description and/or claims, the terms “comprise” and“include,” along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended assynonyms for each other.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a diagram of an enhanced Node B (eNB) servingmultiple sectors of multiple cells and capable of implementingcoordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission in accordance with one ormore embodiments will be discussed. As shown in FIG. 1, wirelesscommunication network 100 may include an enhanced Node B (eNB) device110 that may serve multiple sectors such as sector 112, sector 114, andsector 116 in respective cells, cell 0, cell 1, and cell 2, of acellular communication system. In one or more embodiments, enhanced NodeB 110 may be part of a Third Generation (3G) or Fourth Generation (4G)communication system in accordance with a Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Alternatively, insome embodiments eNB 110 may be part of an Institute of ElectricalEngineers (IEEE) IEEE 802.16 standard such as IEEE 802.16e or IEEE802.16m standard to implement a Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess (WiMAX) network or a WiMAX-II standard, although the scope of theclaimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Although network100 may be discussed with respect to a given standard, the claimedsubject matter is not limited to any particular standard, or release orversion of that standard, and may encompass further versions or releasesof those standards including standards not yet in existence but whichmay come into existence in the future.

In a given sector 114, eNB may implement intra-eNB coordinatedmultipoint transmission (CoMP) wherein a single eNB 110 controls theCoMP operation. In such embodiments, one or more remote radio elements(RRE), also known as a remote radio unit (RRU), may be deployed within asingle sector such as RRE 118 and RRE 120 deployed in sector 114 asshown in FIG. 1. The RREs may include radio-frequency (RF) circuits toenhance the coverage, throughput and/or link quality of eNB 110, forexample to implement coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission and/orcarrier aggregation. In such a network 100, one or more user equipment(UE) devices such as UE 122, UE 124, and/or UE 126 may communicate witheNB 110 and/or one or more of RRE 118 or RRE 120. In one or moreembodiments, CoMP may be implemented wherein a common or shared mediaaccess control (MAC) and radio resource control (RRC) manage multiplephysical (PHY) devices or cells such as RRE 118 and RRE 120 operating onthe same frequency. Intra-eNB CoMP allows joint processing and beamforming across multiple cells, such as the RREs) within a single eNB.The cells may be implemented via different antenna orientations of theeNB to serve different sectors of the same cell site where eNB 110 islocated, or alternatively the cells may be implemented via one or moreremote radio elements such as RRE 118 and RRE 120 to provide localcoverage within a given sector 114. Using multiple RREs may be referredto a distributed antenna system (DAS) deployment. An example of aframework of a common MAC/RRC controlling CoMP operation is shown in anddescribed with respect to FIG. 2, below.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a framework to implementintra-eNB CoMP under the same radio resource control (RRC) with jointmedia access control (MAC) in accordance with one or more embodiments inaccordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown inFIG. 2, framework 200 for implementing intra-eNB CoMP may comprise radioresource control (RRC) 210 and media access control (MAC) 212 to controlmultiple physical (PHY) devices represented as PHY-A 214, PHY-B 216,and/or PHY-C 218. Although FIG. 2 shows three physical devices forpurposes of example, any number of physical devices may be implemented,and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in thisrespect. As shown in FIG. 2, PHY-A 214 may operate on a first frequency(RF 1), PHY-B 216 may also operate on the first frequency (RF 1), andPHY-C 218 may operate on a second frequency (RF 2). Where user equipmentsuch as UE 122 communicates with both PHY-A 214 and PHY-B 216 bothoperating on the same frequency (RF 1), coordinated multipoint (CoMP)may be implemented. Where user equipment such as UE 124 communicateswith both PHY-B 216 and PHY-C 218 each operating on a differentfrequency, (RF 1) and (RF 2), respectively, carrier aggregation (CA) maybe implemented.

In one or more embodiments, under framework 200, Per UE configurationand management of multiple Intra-eNB cells, which may be realized assectors or RREs, may be controlled by an eNB under the same RRC 210 withjoint MAC 212 operation. In one or more embodiments, such Intra-eNBcells may be distinguished by user equipment (UE) devices by theirrespective PHY layer cell identifications (Cell-IDs) for example asdefined in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard Release 8, Release 9,and/or Release 10. Such a framework 200 may be utilized for scenarios inwhich multiple RREs are deployed with common Cell-IDs but with differentPHY attributes, for example for example CSI-RS pattern, antenna portassignments, etc. as defined in a secondary cell configuration phasethat is defined with respect to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, below.

Referring now to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, block diagrams of a control planeand a data plane, respectively, for implementing coordinated multipointtransmission in accordance with one or more embodiments will bediscussed. As shown in FIG. 3, control plane 300 comprises UE 122coupled with eNB 110 and media management entity (MME) 338, wherein UE122 comprises radio resource control (RRC) block 312, packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP) block 316, radio link control (RLC) block318, media access control (MAC) block 320, and physical layer (PHY)blocks PHY 322 and PHY 324. The eNB 110 likewise comprises RRC block326, PDCP block 328, RLC block 330, MAC block 332, and PHY block PHY 334and PHY 336 coupled to respective blocks of the UE 122. Furthermore, UE122 includes NAS block 310 coupled to non-access stratum (NAS) block 340of mobility management entity (MME) 338. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4,data plane 400 comprises UE 122 coupled with eNB 110, wherein UE 122comprises PDCP block 316, RLC block 318, MAC block 320, PHY block 322and PHY block 324. The eNB 110 likewise comprises PDCP block 328, RLCblock 330, MAC block 332, PHY block 334 and PHY block 336 coupled torespective blocks of the UE 122.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a flow diagram of a method to configurecoordinated multipoint cells for a UE in accordance with one or moreembodiments will be discussed. As shown in FIG. 5, method 500 mayinclude more or fewer blocks, and/or in one or more alternative orders,than shown, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limitedin these respects. For coordinated multipoint (CoMP), a primary cell maybe selected by the eNB, and the user equipment such as UE 122 may beconfigured by the primary cell with additional cells on the samefrequency. At block 510, UE 122 measures the frequencies on which thecells are operating. If the frequencies are the same as determined atblock 512, then CoMP may be utilized. At block 518, UE 122 performsradio resource measurement (RRM) measurements on the secondary cells andfeeds back the measurement information to the eNB 110 to further assistwith CoMP operation. The eNB then activates or deactivates the secondarycells at block 520 for CoMP based at least in part on the RRMmeasurements obtained by the UE 122. In one or more embodiments, themeasurements provided by the UE 122 and the feedback channels on theprimary cell may be consistent with a similar approach as implementedwith carrier aggregation techniques. At block 522, the primary cellprovides cross carrier and cell downlink scheduling and controlinformation which may also be consistent with a similar approach asimplemented with carrier aggregation techniques. In one or moreembodiments, the RRM measurements to support CoMP may not require anadditional extension or extensions to the single carrier, non-CoMPcommunication arrangement. The RRM measurements may be set thresholdsfor which a cell may be eligible or ineligible for CoMP operation.Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the primary cell may changebased at least in part on the RRM measurements. For example, dependingon how transparent a secondary cell or another cell may appear to the UE122, such a primary cell change may either be a standard cell handoveror specifically a primary cell change. Such transparency may refer tohow the secondary cell or another cell operates in CoMP mode versus howit operates in a regular mode, for example whether the UE 122 will getthe channel state indicator (CSI) for that cell operating under CoMP,and whether the UE 122 performs explicit PHY feedback for the cell. Inthe event those conditions are true, then a primary cell change for CoMPmay be viable, and a future primary cell change for carrier aggregationmay apply as well to intra-eNB CoMP.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram of a method to configuresecondary cells for coordinated in accordance with one or moreembodiments will be discussed. As shown in FIG. 6, method 600 mayinclude more or fewer blocks, and/or in one or more alternative orders,than shown, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limitedin these respects. In one or more embodiments, blocks 610, 612, and 614may be performed in the downlink (DL), and blocks 616 and 618 may beperformed in the uplink (UL). For the downlink, at block 610, theprimary cell provides information about the configuring cell (theprimary cell) to the secondary cells. Such information may include thenumber of cells being coordinated for CoMP, the cell identifications(Cell IDs), the number of antenna ports per each eNB, and so on. Atblock 612, the primary cell configures channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS) on the secondary cells, including subframeoffset, duty cycle, the location of the CSI-RS within the downlinksubframe, and so on. At block 614, the primary cell configures theuplink control channels for CoMP operation, including providing thefeedback format, duty cycle, and so on. For the uplink, at block 616 thesecondary cells provide feedback to the primary cell to support the CoMPmode of operation, including a precoding matrix index (PMI), channelquality indicator (CQI), rank indicator (RI), and so on.

In one or more embodiments, the measurement of the channels is performedby using channel state indicator (CSI) reference signals transmitted bythe primary cell and secondary cells on different RREs. The CSI-RSconfiguration (duty cycle, subframe offset and intra-subframe location)of both cells will be provided by radio resource control (RRC) signalingof the primary cell. Furthermore, PDSCH muting may also be applied onthe primary cell to enhance the channel measurements performance fromthe secondary cell. The UE 122 will also report feedback to the primarycell only, as indicated at block 618. In order to minimize the impact tothe standard specification and simplify UE implementation forcoordinated beamforming CoMP, feedback channels may be reused asspecified in LTE Releases 8 through 10 which are based on PMI, CQI, andRI reports. In one or more embodiments, one modification to the presentLTE Releases may include periodically replacing regular feedbackinformation with feedback information related to CoMP operation,although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in thisrespect. Furthermore, although Intra-eNB CoMP is discussed herein forpurposes of example, in one or more embodiments the MAC 212 and RRC 210control of CoMP of FIG. 2 may likewise be extended to implementInter-eNB CoMP wherein multiple eNBs may operating on the same frequencymay provide CoMP services to one or more UEs. Such an arrangement mayinvolve modification of the inter-eNB interface and coordination betweenthe eNBs, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is notlimited in this respect.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram of an information handlingsystem capable of utilizing coordinated multipoint transmission inaccordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Informationhandling system 700 of FIG. 7 may tangibly embody one or more of any ofthe network elements of network 100 as shown in and described withrespect to FIG. 1. For example, information handling system 500 mayrepresent the hardware of enhanced Node B 110, RRE 118, and/or userequipment 122, with greater or fewer components depending on thehardware specifications of the particular device or network element.Although information handling system 700 represents one example ofseveral types of computing platforms, information handling system 700may include more or fewer elements and/or different arrangements ofelements than shown in FIG. 7, and the scope of the claimed subjectmatter is not limited in these respects.

Information handling system 700 may comprise one or more processors suchas processor 710 and/or processor 712, which may comprise one or moreprocessing cores. One or more of processor 710 and/or processor 712 maycouple to one or more memories 716 and/or 718 via memory bridge 714,which may be disposed external to processors 710 and/or 712, oralternatively at least partially disposed within one or more ofprocessors 710 and/or 712. Memory 716 and/or memory 718 may comprisevarious types of semiconductor based memory, for example volatile typememory and/or non-volatile type memory. Memory bridge 714 may couple toa graphics system 720 to drive a display device (not shown) coupled toinformation handling system 700.

Information handling system 700 may further comprise input/output (I/O)bridge 722 to couple to various types of I/O systems. I/O system 724 maycomprise, for example, a universal serial bus (USB) type system, an IEEE1394 type system, or the like, to couple one or more peripheral devicesto information handling system 700. Bus system 726 may comprise one ormore bus systems such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI)express type bus or the like, to connect one or more peripheral devicesto information handling system 700. A hard disk drive (HDD) controllersystem 728 may couple one or more hard disk drives or the like toinformation handling system, for example Serial ATA type drives or thelike, or alternatively a semiconductor based drive comprising flashmemory, phase change, and/or chalcogenide type memory or the like.Switch 730 may be utilized to couple one or more switched devices to I/Obridge 722, for example Gigabit Ethernet type devices or the like.Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, information handling system 700 mayinclude a radio-frequency (RF) block 732 comprising RF circuits anddevices for wireless communication with other wireless communicationdevices and/or via wireless networks such as network 100 of FIG. 1, forexample where information handling system 700 embodies eNB 110, RRE 118,and/or user equipment 122, although the scope of the claimed subjectmatter is not limited in this respect.

Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certaindegree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereofmay be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that thesubject matter pertaining to coordinated multipoint transmission basedon a multicell MAC/RRC design and/or many of its attendant utilitieswill be understood by the forgoing description, and it will be apparentthat various changes may be made in the form, construction and/orarrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scopeand/or spirit of the claimed subject matter or without sacrificing allof its material advantages, the form herein before described beingmerely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/or further withoutproviding substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claimsto encompass and/or include such changes.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: configuring two or morecells comprising a single enhanced Node B (eNB) and one or more remoteradio elements (RREs) in a distributed antenna system (DAS) deploymentto perform coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission for one or moreuser equipment devices with a common media access control (MAC) or acommon radio resource control (RRC), or combinations thereof, whereinthe two or more cells have a same cell identification (ID) and differentphysical (PHY) attributes; selecting one of the two or more cells as aprimary cell and at least another of the two or more cells as asecondary cell; receiving measurement information related to CoMPoperation from the one or more user equipment devices on a feedbackchannel of the primary cell only, and from one or more secondary cells;and deactivating one or more of the cells or activating one or moreadditional cells for coordinated multipoint transmission based at leastin part on the measurement information.
 2. A method as claimed in claim1, wherein the measurement information comprises radio resourcemeasurement (RRM) measurements.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1,wherein two or more of the cells comprise different collocated antennaconfigurations of an enhanced Node B on a single cell site.
 4. A methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the cells are distinguished based atleast in part on a physical (PHY) layer cell identification (Cell-ID).5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said configuring comprisesdetermining if two or more cells are operating on the same frequency foreligibility for coordinated multipoint operation, and otherwiseconfiguring cells operating on different frequencies for carrieraggregation.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprisingdesignating one of the cells as a primary cell, and one or more of thecells as a secondary cell, and providing downlink scheduling or controlinformation, or combinations thereof, from the primary cell to the oneor more secondary cells.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising designating one of the cells as a primary cell, and one ormore of the cells as a secondary cell, and configuring channel stateinformation reference signals (CSI-RS) on the one or more secondarycells with the primary cell.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising designating one of the cells as a primary cell, and one ormore of the cells as a secondary cell, and configuring uplink controlchannels on the one or more secondary cells with the primary cell.
 9. Amethod as claimed in claim 1, further comprising receiving feedbackinformation from one or more of the cells, or one or more of the userequipment devices, or combinations thereof, to support coordinatedmultipoint transmission.
 10. An apparatus, comprising: a radio-frequencytransceiver; a processor coupled to the radio-frequency transceiver,wherein the processor is configured to cause the radio-frequencytransceiver to: configure two or more cells comprising a single enhancedNode B (eNB) and one or more remote radio elements (RREs) in adistributed antenna system (DAS) deployment to perform coordinatedmultipoint (CoMP) transmission for one or more user equipment deviceswith a common media access control (MAC) or a common radio resourcecontrol (RRC), or combinations thereof, wherein the two or more cellshave a same cell identification (ID) and different physical (PHY)attributes; select one of the two or more cells as a primary cell and atleast another of the two or more cells as a secondary cell; receivemeasurement information related to CoMP from the one or more userequipment devices on a feedback channel of the primary cell only, andfrom one or more secondary cells; and deactivate one or more of thecells or activating one or more additional cells for coordinatedmultipoint transmission based at least in part on the measurementinformation.
 11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein themeasurement information comprises radio resource measurement (RRM)measurements.
 12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein two ormore of the cells comprise different collocated antenna configurationsof an enhanced Node B on a single cell site.
 13. An apparatus as claimedin claim 10, wherein the cells are distinguished based at least in parton a physical (PHY) layer cell identification (Cell-ID).
 14. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine if two or more cells are operating on the samefrequency for eligibility for coordinated multipoint operation, andotherwise configuring cells operating on different frequencies forcarrier aggregation.
 15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10, whereinthe processor is further configured to designate one of the cells as aprimary cell, and one or more of the cells as a secondary cell, andprovide downlink scheduling or control information, or combinationsthereof, to the one or more secondary cells.
 16. An apparatus as claimedin claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to designateone of the cells as a primary cell, and one or more of the cells as asecondary cell, and configure channel state information referencesignals (CSI-RS) on the one or more secondary cells.
 17. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured todesignate one of the cells as a primary cell, and one or more of thecells as a secondary cell, and configure uplink control channels on theone or more secondary cells.
 18. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10,wherein the processor is further configured to designate receivingfeedback information from one or more of the cells, or one or more ofthe user equipment devices, or combinations thereof, to supportcoordinated multipoint transmission.
 19. An article of manufacturecomprising a storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, ifexecuted, result in: configuring two or more cells comprising a singleenhanced Node B (eNB) and one or more remote radio elements (RREs) in adistributed antenna system (DAS) deployment to perform coordinatedmultipoint (CoMP) transmission for one or more user equipment deviceswith a common media access control (MAC) or a common radio resourcecontrol (RRC), or combinations thereof, wherein the two or more cellshave a same cell identification (ID) and different physical (PHY)attributes; selecting one of the two or more cells as a primary cell andat least another of the two or more cells as a secondary cell; receivingmeasurement information related to CoMP operation from the one or moreuser equipment devices on a feedback channel of the primary cell only,and from one or more secondary cells; and deactivating one or more ofthe cells or activating one or more additional cells for coordinatedmultipoint transmission based at least in part on the measurementinformation.
 20. An article of manufacture as claimed in claim 19,wherein the measurement information comprises radio resource measurement(RRM) measurements.
 21. An article of manufacture as claimed in claim19, wherein two or more of the cells comprise different collocatedantenna configurations of an enhanced Node B on a single cell site. 22.An article of manufacture as claimed in claim 19, wherein the cells aredistinguished based at least in part on a physical (PHY) layer cellidentification (Cell-ID).
 23. An article of manufacture as claimed inclaim 19 wherein the instructions, if executed, further result indetermining if two or more cells are operating on the same frequency foreligibility for coordinated multipoint operation, and otherwiseconfiguring cells operating on different frequencies for carrieraggregation.
 24. An article of manufacture as claimed in claim 19,wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in designating oneof the cells as a primary cell, and one or more of the cells as asecondary cell, and providing downlink scheduling or controlinformation, or combinations thereof, to the one or more secondarycells.
 25. An article of manufacture as claimed in claim 19, wherein theinstructions, if executed, further result in designating one of thecells as a primary cell, and one or more of the cells as a secondarycell, and configuring channel state information reference signals(CSI-RS) on the one or more secondary cells.
 26. An article ofmanufacture as claimed in claim 19, wherein the instructions, ifexecuted, further result in designating one of the cells as a primarycell, and one or more of the cells as a secondary cell, and configuringuplink control channels on the one or more secondary cells.
 27. Anarticle of manufacture as claimed in claim 19, wherein the instructions,if executed, further result in receiving feedback information from oneor more of the cells, or one or more of the user equipment devices, orcombinations thereof, to support coordinated multipoint transmission.